Performances

Tune of the Day: Theme from the New World Symphony

Dvořák's Largo from Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

This wonderful symphony was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his three-year visit to the United States. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertory.

Dvořák was interested in the Native American music and African-American spirituals he heard in America. However, as the Composer himself explained: “I have not actually used any of the [Native American] melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music, and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, counterpoint, and orchestral color.”

At the Ninth Symphony's premiere in New York the reception was one of perpetual cheering: the end of every movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvořák felt obliged to stand up and bow.